Gods, Heroes, and Monsters A Sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern Myths in Translation

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Setting itself apart from typical anthologies in classical mythology, Gods, Heroes, and Monsters: A Sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern Myths in Translation presents essential Greek and Roman sources--including work from Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and Ovid--alongside analogous narratives from the ancient Near East--Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Hittite kingdom, Ugarit, Phoenicia, and the Hebrew Bible. Some of the sources appear here in English translations for the first time.

This collection stresses cultural continuities and comparisons, showing how Greek and Roman myths did not emerge in a vacuum but rather evolved from and interacted with their counterparts in the ancient Near East. Reinforcing this more inclusive definition of "classical," it is organized thematically, which allows readers to examine each category of myth in a comparative and cross-cultural light. For example, "Part III: Epic Struggles: Gods, Heroes, and Monsters" provides sources that feature Greek heroes like Heracles, Apollo, Achilles, and Hector along with the Epic of Gilgamesh and other ancient Near Eastern selections that focus on the hero.

Offering a uniquely expansive view of the ancient Mediterranean world, Gods, Heroes, and Monsters shows how the literature, inhabitants, and intellectual traditions of Greece and Rome and the ancient Near East were inextricably intertwined. The book is enhanced by a vibrant, full-color, 16-pg. photo insert, and many new translations by editor Carolina López-Ruiz and others. Ideal for undergraduate courses in Classical Mythology, it is also captivating reading for the general public.

Carolina López-Ruiz is Associate Professor of Classics at The Ohio State University. She is the author of When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East (2010) and the coeditor, with M. Dietler, of Colonial Encounters in Ancient Iberia: Phoenician, Greek, and Indigenous Relations (2009). Dr. López-Ruiz is currently preparing a monograph, with S. Celestino, on the pre-Roman culture of Tartessos in the Iberian Peninsula (OUP, forthcoming 2014).

List of MapsList of FiguresIntroductionAcknowledgmentsNote on Text Arrangement, Transliterations, and ChronologyAbout the EditorContributorsTimelinePART ONE. AND SO IT BEGAN: COSMOGONIES AND THEOGONIES 1.1. Babylonian Epic of Creation: Enuma Elish1.2. Mesopotamian Theogony of Dunnu1.3. Egyptian Cosmogonies1.3.a. The Memphite Theology: Ending of the Shabako Stone1.3.b. "A Hymn to Life": Coffi n Texts Spell 801.3.c. Excerpts from the Teachings for Merikare1.4. God's Creation, from the Book of Genesis 11.5. Hesiod's Theogony1.6. Orphic Cosmogony: the Derveni Papyrus1.7. Phoenician Cosmogonies1.7.a. Philon of Byblos: Excerpts from the Phoenician History1.7.b. Phoenician Cosmogonies Mentioned by Damaskios1.8. Cosmogony in Aristophanes' Birds1.9. Short Cosmogony in Apollonios of Rhodes' Argonautika1.10. Creation Myth in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 11.11. Two Short Cosmogonies, from Virgil's Aeneid and Eclogues1.11.a. A "Tyrian" Cosmogony, from Aeneid, Book 11.11.b. Cosmic Song of Silenus, from Eclogues 6PART TWO. MANKIND CREATED, MANKIND DESTROYED 2.1. Mesopotamian Flood Stories2.1.a. Atrahasis2.1.b. Flood Story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI2.2. Egyptian Texts on the Creation and Destruction of Mankind2.2.a. Excerpts from the Coffin Texts2.2.b. Excerpt from the Book of the Heavenly Cow2.3. Adam and Eve, from Genesis 2-32.4. The Story of Noah, from Genesis 6-92.5. Prometheus, Pandora, and the Five Races of Mankind, from Hesiod's Works and Days2.6. Ovid's Ages of Mankind and the Flood, from Metamorphoses, Book 12.7. An Orphic AnthropogonyPART THREE. EPIC STRUGGLES: GODS, HEROES, AND MONSTERS 3.1. The Epic of Gilgamesh (selections)3.2. The Disputes between Horus and Seth (from the Pyramid Texts and papyri)3.3. The Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor3.4. Hittite Myths3.4.a. Anatolian (Hattic) Myth of Illuyanka3.4.b. Hurro-Hittite Narrative Song: Kumarbi Cycle3.5. Ugaritic Epic Poems3.5.a. The Baal Cycle3.5.b. The Aqhat Epic3.6. Yahweh as a Storm God: Psalm 29 3.7. David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 173.8. Homer's Gods and Heroes3.8.a. The Aristeia of Diomedes: Iliad, Book 53.8.b. Odysseus and the Cyclops: Odyssey, Book 93.9. Apollo's Journey: The Homeric Hymn to Apollo3.10. Dionysos in Disguise3.10.a. The Opening of Euripides' Bacchae3.10.b. The Homeric Hymn to Dionysos3.11. The Exploits of Perseus, Herakles, and Theseus, from Apollodorus' Library3.11.a. Perseus3.11.b. Herakles3.11.c. TheseusPART FOUR. OF CITIES AND PEOPLES 4.1. The Foundation of a Heliopolis Temple by Senusert I4.2. The Hurro-Hittite Song of Release (Destruction of the City of Ebla)4.3. Cain and Abel: Genesis 44.4. The Tower of Babel: Genesis 114.5. Abraham's Test, from Genesis 224.6. The Israelites' Escape from Egypt, from the Book of Exodus4.7. The Sargon Legend4.7.a. The Sargon Legend (Sumerian Text)4.7.b. Sargon Birth Legend (Neo-Assyrian Text)4.8. Birth of Cyrus the Great, from Herodotos' Histories4.9. The Foundation of Cyrene4.9.a. Herodotos on the Foundation of Cyrene4.9.b. Cyrene in Pindar, Pythian Ode 54.10. The "Rape of Europa" and the Foundation of Thebes, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 2-3 34.11. Theseus' Unification of Attika, from Plutarch's Life of Theseus4.12. The Foundation of Carthage4.12.a. Foundation Legend, from Justin, Epitome of Trogus4.12.b. Aeneas' Arrival at Carthage, from Virgil's Aeneid, Book 14.13. The Foundation of Rome4.13.a. Beginning of Livy's History of Rome, Book 14.13.b. Romulus and Remus, from Plutarch's Life of RomulusPART FIVE. EROS AND THE LABORS OF LOVE 5.1. Ishtar and Gilgamesh: Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI5.2. King Snefru and the Oarswomen5.3. Egyptian Story of the Two Brothers5.4. Joseph and Potiphar's Wife: Genesis 395.5. Aphrodite and Anchises: The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite5.6. Medea and Jason, from Euripides' Medea5.7. "Hymn to Venus," from Lucretius' De rerum natura5.8. Aeneas and Dido, from Virgil's Aeneid, Books 1 and 45.9. Pasiphae and the Cretan Bull5.9.a. Minos, Pasiphae, and the Bull, from Apollodorus, Library, Book 35.9.b. Pasiphae's Passion, from Ovid, Ars Amatoria, Book 15.9.c. Minos and the Bull, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 85.10. Theseus and Ariadne5.10.a. From Plutarch, Life of Theseus5.10.b. Ovid, Heroides 105.11. Hippolytus and Phaedra: Ovid, Heroides 45.12. Penelope and Ulysses: Ovid, Heroides 15.13. Hermaphroditus, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 45.14. Cephalus and Procris, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 75.15. Hyacinth and Apollo, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 105.16. Pygmalion and the Statue of Galatea, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 105.17. Myrrha and Cinyras, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 105.18. Caenis-Caeneus, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 125.19. Achilles at Skyros, from Statius, Achilleid, Books 1-25.20. Cupid and Psyche, from Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Books 4-6PART SIX. DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE JOURNEY 6.1. Gilgamesh and the Underworld: Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets X-XI6.2. Ishtar's Descent to the Underworld6.3. Great Hymn to Osiris6.4. The Fight between Re and Apep, from the Book of the Dead6.5. Isis and Osiris, from Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride6.6. Telipinu: An Anatolian Myth about a Departed God6.7. Odysseus' Nekyia in Homer, Odyssey, Book 116.8. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter6.9. Instructions for the Hereafter: An Orphic Gold Tablet6.10. Cybele and Attis, from Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, Book 56.11. Adonis, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 106.12. Orpheus and Eurydice, from Virgil, Georgics, Book 46.13. Aeneas' Katabasis: Virgil, Aeneid, Book 66.14. The Dream of Scipio, from Cicero, De re publica, Book 66.15. Psyche's Descent to the Underworld, from Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Book 6PART SEVEN. PLATO'S MYTHS 7.1. The Demiurge, from the Timaeus7.2. Anthropogony, from the Protagoras7.3. The Atlantis Myth, from Timaeus and Kritias7.4. Aristophanes' Speech on Love, from the Symposium7.5. The Myth of Er, from the RepublicGlossary of Technical TermsBibliographyReferencesCreditsIndex of Place Names and Characters